OFFICE OF THE MAYOR March 29, 2018 Honorable John Horgan Honorable Mike Farnworth Premier of British Columbia Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor PO BOX 9041 General STN PROV GOVT Room 128 Parliament Buildings Victoria, BC STN PROV GOVT V8W9E1 Victoria, BC V8V 1X4 Dear Premier Horgan and Minister Farnworth, RE: Human Trafficking Task Force At the Regular Meeting on March 5th , 2018 the District of Houston received the attached email from Cathy Peters, BC's Anti-Human Trafficking Educator, Speaker, and Advocate, dated February 25th , 2018. At that meeting Council passed the following resolution: "That Council resolves to issue a letter to the Minister of Public Safety requesting the establishment of a Human Trafficking Task Force and the enforcement of the federal Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act." Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Shane Brienen Mayor Attach: Email from Cathy Peters dated February 25th , 2018 Re: Child Sex Trafficking in BC Municipalities and How to Stop it. cc: Cathy Peters, BC's Anti-Human Trafficking Educator, Speaker and Advocate All UBCM member municipalities 3367 12th Street PO F3ox 310 Houston BC V0J lZ0 r :?50.8cFJ,2238 F 250.84.5.3429 E [email protected] www.houston.ca <·1 \.Ji& _D_e_e_na_Fa_r_re_1_1 ________________' _______ ...,. __.......,~~r;1 From: Cathy Peters <[email protected]> · · , ·-- 1 Sent: Monday, February 26, 2018 4:36 PM ·1 To: Houston General Subject: Child sex trafficking in BC Municipalities and how to stop it Attachments: WHAT CAN I DO AS A PARENT TO STOP MY CHILD FROM BEING TRAFFICKED.docx; Some Ways to Prevent Your Child from Being Recruited Into Prostitution.docx; UBCJ\(1 & Bill C-36.docx; Ontario unveils funds for Human trafficking.docx Importance: High Dear Mayor Shane Brienen and City Councillors, Child Sex trafficking (including child pornography) is the fastest growing crime in the world, Canada and in BC. I have been raising awareness to this issue for the past 5 years. I have included two attachments addressing how to stop this crime and the UBCM 2015 Resolutions on Human trafficking/Rape culture. BC needs a properly funded Human Trafficking Task Force (like Ontario) for awareness, education and training for law enforcement. Also, the current Federal Law, "Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act" needs to be properly enforced. ASK: Would you please write a letter to the BC Premier John Horgan and the Public Safety Minister/Solicitor General Mike Farnworth that we need a Human Trafficking Task Force AND the Federal Law enforced (it is in the rest of the country), and send me a copy of that letter. #Me Too and #TimesUp are 2 timely anti- sexual abuse campaigns. Please write me if you support these campaigns. Sincerely, Mrs. Cathy Peters BC's anti-human trafficking educator, speaker, advocate #302-150 W. 15th St., North Vancouver, BC V7M OC4 Mission statement: A Modern Equal Society does not buy and sell women and children. My goal: to traffick-proof every community in BC and insure there is not another Robert Pickton (Port Coquitlam serial killer) situation. Strategy: the 2 E's- Education (of the problem), Enforcement (ofthe Law, The Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act) Result: to make it known that British Columbia is a bad place (for buyers of sex, traffickers, facilitators) for the business of sexual exploitation. 1 WHAT CAN I DO AS A PARENT? Here are five things that you can do to help prevent your child from being lured away by a trafficker: 1. Set a high standard of "love" within your home. The way you define and express love shapes your children's self-image, confidence and opinions of future relationships. Treat them the way you want their future spouses to treat them. Help them to distinguish between real love and empty promises or cheap gifts. 2. Talk to your children about sexual abuse. According to the US Department of Justice, every two minutes someone in the US is sexually assaulted, of which 29% are ages 12-17. Let your children know that if anyone has or ever does hurt them, they can talk to you. This is the most important thing you can say. Don't assume they have not been hurt by sexual violence before. Leave the door open for your child to talk about past circumstances that they haven't shared with you. 3. Talk to your children about sex trafficking. Discuss ways children and teens are targeted for sex trafficking. Let them know that traffickers specifically try to woo young girls and boys with promises of a better life - whether it's promises of love and attention or promises of nice things and trips - these pimps look for ways of exploiting dreams. Traffickers can be male or female, even classmates. Traffickers may even use kids to recruit other kids. 4. Talk to your children about the dangers of social media. It's important to provide practical safety tips like: don't share personal information on the Internet; don't accept Facebook requests from unknown people; NEVER share naked photos of yourself with anyone; and tell a parent or a trusted adult if you feel threatened or uncomfortable online. Also, children need help in defining friendships. Social media has distorted our childrens' understanding of what friendship means. Teach them that a friend is not someone you met yesterday and that a "friend" on Facebook is not the same thing as a friendship. 5. Pay attention to your children. Monitor your children's social media accounts, look for ways to meet their friends, their friends' parents and those they hang out with. Be alert to boyfriends who are much older, or friendships that tend to isolate your child from other friends or family. Notice if your child has new clothing items, 111alcellp products, cell phgne or other items and inquire :3.bout how they aquired them. Some Ways to Prevent Your Child from Being Recruited Into Prostitution • Recruiters frequent malls, movie theaters, bowling alleys, parks, typical teen hang out areas, and around school grounds. Make sure your children are supervised and not alone when in these areas. • Recruiters are always looking for girls who are alone or isolated; if your child is with a group, she is much less likely to be targeted. • Make sure your child is not alone when they are going to or from school or other extracurricular activities. • Check your child's emails, social media, and internet activities. Many recruiters will build a relationship with children through the internet over time in order to gain their trust. • Screen any boyfriend by checking his age and status in the community. Check with his parents to verify his age, any gang affiliation, or any criminal history. Recruiters are notorious for lying about their age and who they are in order to gain a girl's-and even her parent's-trust. • Know where your child is all times. It may be annoying to your child, but it also could mean saving their life. • Adding a GPS tracker to your child's phone is a great form of protection, as it allows you to find out exactly where your child is at any time. • Have a code word or phrase. For example, saying 'Tm fine" means "Not okay! I need help!". This way, if they are in the hands of an abductor they can text you this code without raising the suspicion of the abductor or recruiter. • Use the percentage sign or some unique symbol that will allow your child to text you one quick symbol to tell you they are in trouble. • Have specific and periodic check in times with your children. Setting a recurring alarm on your child's phone will help them remember to check in. If your child misses a check in time, you can set a response in motion assuming that they are in trouble. • Ethical Modeling agencies do not typically solicit girls who are alone. Thoroughly screen any solicitation for your child to model or to go somewhere with someone who has not been vetted. • Talk to your child about what to do if they get into trouble with someone who is threatening them. The basic rule is to never go to the second location once you realize you are in danger. No matter what the threat, advise them to go to a figure of authority immediately. • It is a difficult discussion to have, especially with junior high age children, but 8 to 14 year-olds are the primary targets of recruiters. Children really need to be coached on how to respond to that type of threat if it happens to them. • If your child is going to a party, make sure that you !mow it is held at a safe place with the supervision of people you trust. Recruiters for sex trafficking will often frequent parties that teenagers attend and wait until a child is alone, single them out, and actually take them during the party. Many times the recruiter will take them to a back room where any kind of disturbance would not be heard due to the noise of the party. • Advise your child to never leave any drink, even water, unattended at any party or event. Recruiters will drop what they call a "roofie" into the drink which causes the victim to become submissive to anyone without bringing attention to the situation. Most importantly, get involved in your child's life and be their parent, not their buddy, They may resist, but it is our job as parents to protect our children from the predators that seek to destroy their lives.